One of the biggest challenges for woodworkers who would like to sell some of the woodworking projects is trying to decide how much to charge for them. This can be a real conundrum for some, so today I am going to give everyone some tips on the best approach that will work for them ...
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/svD6AFabokY
It's impossible to give actual pricing information, there are just way too many variables, like what kinds of woodworking projects there are, what sizes, types of woods, details, quality .. the list goes on and on, but each woodworker can estimate their own works by following a simple plan ..
Setting Your Objectives
The first thing to think about in establishing your pricing is to keep 2 Objectives in mind;
1 - Your goal is to SELL woodworking projects
2 - You need to "Learn" the process as you go
And to learn the process as you go, means you need to become a STUDENT of whatever the woodworking niche you are in. You need to research what others have done with the same line of projects, whatever they are, how do they make them, what designs they have how simple or complicated are they, you need to learn everything you can about them and that is why I said in the first episode "choose something you like to do". You need to learn what prices other people sell their products or similar products for and how they compare to what you are producing.
Become a "student" of your chosen woodworking niche.
Note: What when another person has "listed a price for something", this does not mean they are selling that item at that price, so you also need to watch to see if they just have something listed, or is it listed - AND SELLING ... there is a big difference.
Lots of people list things to sell, but no one is buying because the price they have selected is too high. This is WHY it's important to be a student of your woodworking niche and become a bit of an expert in your chosen area.
Understand How Customers Choose Items
This could be a huge area to learn, there is much out there on customer buying trends, but all you need to know are the basics and most often, the way YOU purchase things is the same way other people purchase things. You can be your own encyclopedia.
Just like you! Your customers like to have choices, and I talked a bit about this in the first episode, but there is more. Customers like to have choices in different items, and/or they like to have choices of things like color, size and most of all they like to have choices in prices. This means it is best if you have different sizes or qualities of items but know this ... if a customer is not certain of a product, they will often pick something that is priced in a middle range. Most customers don't like to purchase the cheapest or the most expensive unless they know exactly what they are buying. For most people, the safest buys are those products that are mid-priced. Knowing this allows you to tailor-make your products exactly for that knowledge.
Give Buyers Choices
If you don't believe me ... try this. Pick any product you know nothing about and do a search for it online like Amazon, Walmart or any other large retailer.
Imagine you need to purchase one of these items as a gift for a family member, which one would you choose?? Go ahead and look up any one of these items ..
multimeter
PH Tester
dash cam
fishing reel
rubber boots
Well, what did you choose to purchase? If you look closely you will often find that retailers do some of the guesswork for you and recommend certain products, But Look, they almost ALWAYS choose a product that is Mid Priced !!
So HOW do you REALLY Choose?
You need to go back to your objectives, remember, your first objective is to "sell projects". Pricing them so high that customers do not purchase them does not satisfy that first objective. If you find your prices are too high for customers to purchase, you need to modify what or how you make things so that you can make what customers will purchase.
There is no "industry standard" for pricing, you need to make your own choice as to what price your items at based on what you know others are selling them for and what you think you can sell yours for ... then probably drop your price a bit more to make it even more appealing, after all, your first goal is to SELL. Once you start selling, the second objective starts to come more into play, which is "Learning as go" which could mean raising your prices, modifying what you make, or selecting other items that compliment what you make, or even better, what customers ask for. That is why you want to become a student in your chosen woodworking niche.
There is no magic in setting your prices. It's hard work like everything else, but remember, if your woodworking projects are just collecting dust in your storage room and not being sold, this is not helping you. If you have made projects to potentially sell and they are NOT selling, there could be other issues, maybe you have picked the wrong product to make, maybe it takes too long to make or other expenses may enter into the equation, OR, more likely, your pricing is too high for the customer perceived "value" you are offering to the buyers, it's really that simple.
There are millions of people in the world who do not understand woodworking, can't do it, don't have the equipment or knowledge but who still would love to own something from natural wood, and these folks are all your potential customers, you just need to work on what products they are interested in and at what price they are willing to pay. Thousands of other woodworkers are selling items and you can too .. it just takes a bit of time and understanding and pretty soon things will drop into place, you will find the correct product mix at the price customers are willing to pay, and that you can make a bit of money doing ... and then it will seem easy ...
Be persistent, learn by doing and make adjustments as you go ... that is the route to success.
Copyright Colin Knecht
woodworkweb
